Page 94 of Puppy Love

“Alright, let’s get you home.”

I scoop him into my arms and carefully carry him to an empty suite before placing him inside. But just as I reach into my pocket, darkness washes over me.

I blink, thinking at first that maybe, somehow, I accidentally closed my eyes. But when they open again, I’m still staring into a dark, endless abyss. Quiet falls over the facility, the playful barking of the dogs in daycare ceasing abruptly.

“Woah.” I hear a low voice say from one of the pens. It sounds like Avery. I reach for my phone in my pocket, so I can turn on the flashlight, but a sudden loud beep emitting from it causes me to jump backward. I clutch my chest as I pull it out of my pocket.

Weather Alert: Greenrock Valley, WA Civil Authorities Issued an Avalanche Warning Until 21:00

My phone slides out of my hand and crashes onto the floor. A pit forms in my stomach, sinking lower and lower, and I kneel on the ground, scrambling around to find it. When I feel the familiar, rectangular shape in my hand, my grip tightens.

“Fuck,” I whisper, to nobody but myself. I try to take a deep breath, but it’s ragged and weak. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

My heart thrums against the inside of my ribcage, a tight pinching sensation filling my chest. I take a staggered breath.

“You’re okay,” I repeat again. I feel like one of the dogs on my own table, trying to soothe myself with words I don’t know I truly believe.

Furry Friends Pet Resort is miles from the mountains. I know that being completely drowned in snow is out of the Realm of Likely Possibilities. But that doesn’t stop me from panicking. Not now.

My feet move fast, and I don’t know where they’re taking me, but I’m in no position to fight back. My rubber boots thud against the floor, my chest rising and falling rapidly with each step. When the supply closet door slams behind me, I let my back lean against the wall and slide down to the floor as I bury my head in my knees.

The quick thrum of my heart vibrates in my ears as I close my eyes, trying to focus on slowing it down. But it doesn’t. My hands shake as they squeeze my knees to my chest, my heartbeat growing louder, the sound pounding against the inside of my skull. Staggered breaths slide through my lips, small whistles coming from the back of my throat as I fight to breathe.

It’s all my fault.

It’s all my fault.

My back hits the wall as my body begins to rock, the pressure against my chest growing as I squeeze my knees tighter. I shake my head at the words repeating in my own brain. It isn’t true. It isn’t.

But it is.

It’s all my fault.

Tears pool in my closed eyes, trickling down my cheeks in a rapid river. My lungs expand, grasping at air I don’t know exists in this moment. The muscles in my throat constrict, and I choke, coughing loudly, as my entire body continues to shake.

I need Adrian. I need Hayden. Or maybe…

“Cam?” a voice calls out, piercing the noise in my mind. It’s brief though, and the air around me still seems to dissipate as I try to take a breath.

It’s all my fault.

“Cam, where are you?” it repeats. I know it’s Violet. The familiar rasp, the strained worry.

“Check the closet,” another, more grizzly voice says. I recognize this one too. It’s Avery. “Violet, we have to find her.”

My nails dig into my curled biceps, and if I were more aware of myself right now, I’m sure it would hurt. But I can barely hear the voices right outside the door. They sound a lifetime away. So the nerves in my body, the ones that are shaking? The ones that should feel a sharp, stinging sensation? They’re numb.

A beam of white light flashes across my closed eyes, and I squeeze them shut tighter, continuing to rock.

It’s all my fault.

It’s all my fault.

Rough fingertips glide across my forearms, a warm body positioning itself behind me. A pair of arms wrap tightly around my own, compressing my chest harder. Tears pool in the corners of my lips, the salt hitting my tongue as my mouth opens to let out a choked sob.

Voices surround me, I’m sure of it. I just can’t decipher what they’re saying. A soft sound rings through the air, like a zipper sliding against metal teeth. Then, the sound of a shaking pill bottle. The rhythm in my chest is starting to steady from the pressure of the arms wrapped around me, but the sharp pain in my lungs persists.

It’s all my fault.

---